In this Oct. 23, 2013, file photo, Luis Mendez, 23, left, and Maurice Mike, 23, wait in line at a job fair held by the Miami Marlins, at Marlins Park in Miami. / Lynne Sladky, AP

by Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

by Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

Stocks finished the day and the week mixed Friday after a disappointing jobs report indicated a hiring slowdown in December.

In choppy trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 index ended up 4.24 points, or 0.2%, to 1,842.37, after being down as much as 0.3% earlier. The benchmark index was up 0.6% for the week.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 7.71 points, or 0.1%, to 16,437.05 and was down 0.2% for the week.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 18.47, or 0.4%, to 4,174.66 and gained 1% for the week.

Employers added 74,000 jobs in December as payroll growth slowed significantly after several months of solid gains, the Labor Department said Friday.

That's the smallest number of job gains since January 2011. But the unemployment rate fell from 7% to 6.7%, lowest since October 2008.

The news pushed bond prices higher, sending yields sharply lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 2.86% from 2.97% the day before. Investors interpreted the slowdown in hiring last month as a signal that the Fed won't move quickly to make more cuts to its bond-buying program.

"I think the weak number does take off the table the possibility that the Fed might accelerate its plans to (pull back)," said Dean Junkans, chief investment officer with Wells Fargo Private Bank.

In the energy sector, benchmark crude for February delivery was up $1.09 to $92.75 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 67 cents to $91.66 on Thursday.

Benchmarks across Asia saw choppy trading Friday following China's release of trade data for December that showed a deceleration in export growth, which suggests demand from Western nations remains tepid. That glum news was partially offset by an increase in import growth that pointed to some resilience in the world's No. 2 economy.